Mexico is supported by the United States in this conflict through the Mérida Initiative.

Operation Black Swan[1] was a joint Mexican–American military operation that resulted in the recapture of the Sinaloa Cartel leader, Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, following a deadly firefight in the city of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, on January 8, 2016. Officials in the Mexican government announced that the operation was planned and executed by the FES, and that they had originally targeted an important Sinaloa Cartel assassin at a home in Los Mochis, and happened to find Guzmán as well. U.S. government officials announced that members of the United States Army's Delta Force and the United States Marshals Service assisted the Mexican Marines in the January 8 mission, and will pursue the extradition of Guzmán to the United States.[2][3]

Guzmán had been on the run since his escape from a federal prison in Almoloya de Juárez, Mexico, on July 11, 2015. On January 8, 2016, Mexican naval forces moved into position to raid a house in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, believed to be occupied by one of Guzmán's "top assassins" or "sicarios". As they entered the building, an "intense" gun battle erupted between the marines and several armed assailants, leaving five of the cartel gunmen dead and six wounded. One marine was also wounded. During the chaos of the firefight, the marines discovered Guzmán, who fled the house through a series of tunnels and then attempted to escape in a stolen vehicle. Shortly thereafter he was spotted by federal agents and apprehended outside a motel a short distance away from the house.[1][2]

Tijuana Cartel

The Tijuana Cartel or Arellano-Félix Organization is a Mexican drug cartel based in Tijuana. The cartel once was described as "one of the biggest and most violent criminal groups in Mexico." However, since the 2006 Sinaloa Cartel incursion in Baja California and the fall of the Arellano-Félix brothers, the Tijuana Cartel has been reduced to a few cells. In 2016, the organization has become known as Cartel Tijuana Nueva Generación and has begun to align itself under the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, along with Beltrán Leyva Organization (BLO) to create an anti-Sinaloa alliance, in which the Jalisco New Generation Cartel heads, creating a possible powershift in Mexico.

Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán

Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera is a Mexican drug lord and former leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, an international crime syndicate. Known as "El Chapo" because of his 168 cm stature, Guzmán is considered to have been the most powerful drug trafficker in the world.

Héctor Luis Palma Salazar

Héctor Luis Palma Salazar is a former Mexican drug trafficker and leader of the Sinaloa Cartel alongside Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán. Palma was arrested on June 23, 1995 and extradited to the United States, where he served a jail sentence until June 2016. He was then deported back to Mexico in June 2016, where he was charged with a double murder in 1995, in Nayarit.

Alfredo Beltrán Leyva

Alfredo Beltrán Leyva, commonly referred to by his alias El Mochomo, is a convicted Mexican drug lord and former leader of the Beltrán-Leyva Cartel, a drug trafficking organization. He was one of Mexico's most-wanted drug lords. Beltrán Leyva was responsible for smuggling multi-ton shipments of cocaine and methamphetamine to the United States from Mexico and South America between the 1990s and 2000s. He worked alongside his brothers Héctor, Carlos, and Arturo.

Gente Nueva

Gente Nueva, also known as Los Chapos, in reference to their drug lord Joaquín Guzmán Loera, is a group of hitmen that works as the armed wing of the Sinaloa Cartel, created to counter the Juárez Cartel influence in the Mexican north-west.

Los Ántrax

Los Ántrax is an enforcer gang of Sinaloa Cartel, a criminal group based in Sinaloa. The group was led by the drug lords Jesús Peña, José Rodrigo Aréchiga Gamboa, René Velázquez Valenzuela, among others, and they are responsible for a number of homicides and for providing armed security services to Ismael El Mayo Zambada. The gang operates in the capital city of Culiacán, Sinaloa, where its members conduct homicides and violent attacks.

Manhunt of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán (2001–2016)

Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, the former leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, dodged international manhunt for more than a decade after escaping from a maximum-security prison in the Mexican state of Jalisco in 2001. Throughout his criminal career following his escape, Guzmán was pursued all across Mexico and abroad, and went from being an average-level drug lord to arguably the world's most-wanted man. Mexico offered MXN$30 million for his capture, while the United States offered up to US$5 million for information leading to his arrest and conviction. In 1993, he was arrested and imprisoned for murder and drug trafficking, facing a 20-year sentence. Fearing his extradition to the U.S., Guzmán fled from prison by reportedly hiding in a laundry cart in 2001. He quickly reincorporated back in the Sinaloa Cartel while authorities continued their manhunt to re-arrest him.

Inés Coronel Barreras

Inés Coronel Barreras is a Mexican convicted drug lord and former high-ranking leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, a criminal group based in Sinaloa. He is the father-in-law of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, the former leader of the cartel and once considered Mexico's most-wanted man. Coronel Barreras was arrested by Mexican security forces in Agua Prieta, Sonora on 30 April 2013. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison on April 28, 2017 for drug trafficking and illegal possession of firearms.

Carlos Manuel Hoo Ramírez

Carlos Manuel Hoo Ramírez, commonly referred to by his alias El Cóndor, is a former Mexican Armed Forces commando and imprisoned high-ranking member of the Sinaloa Cartel, a drug trafficking organization. He was the alleged communication's chief and personal bodyguard of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, once considered Mexico's most-wanted drug lord. On 22 February 2014, he was arrested by the Mexican Navy along with Guzmán at a beach resort area in Mazatlán, Sinaloa.

EL CHAPO Act

The Ensuring Lawful Collection of Hidden Assets to Provide Order Act, abbreviated as the EL CHAPO Act, is a United States Congress bill that would reserve any amount of money seized by the U.S. Government as a result of the criminal prosecution of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán and other felony convictions involving the transportation of controlled substances into the United States for security measures along the U.S.-Mexico border and the construction of a border wall.

United States of America v. Joaquín Guzmán Loera

United States of America v. Joaquín Guzmán Loera is a federal criminal court case against Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, a Mexican drug lord and former leader of the Sinaloa Cartel. Guzmán was extradited from Mexico to the United States in January 2017, where he pleaded not guilty to all counts against him in Brooklyn, New York. His charges included drug trafficking, money laundering, and murder. His defense asserted that he was not the organized crime leader that the prosecution claimed. The trial, often characterized as a trial of the century, began on November 5, 2018, and lasted until February 12, 2019, when the jury found him guilty of all counts. This conviction carries a mandatory life imprisonment, and he is scheduled for sentencing on June 25, 2019.